As of: February 21, 2024, 7:30 a.m
By: Anne Hund
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Split
The number of low-wage jobs has recently fallen.
Nevertheless, millions of people in Germany still have to make do with low wages.
Millions of people in this country continue to have to make do with low wages.
However, the number of low-wage jobs has recently fallen from 7.5 million to 6.4 million, as the Federal Statistical Office announced according to the German Press Agency (dpa, as of February 8th).
According to the Federal Statistical Office, one reason for this is the increased minimum wage, according to dpa.
According to the Social Association of Germany (SoVD), the minimum wage works, but it must be sufficiently high.
Fewer low-wage jobs – share decreased
Almost one in six dependent employees worked in the low-wage sector in April 2023 and earned less than 13.04 euros gross per hour, as dpa also reported.
“According to the statisticians, the share of these jobs in all employment relationships was 16 percent, after 19 percent in April 2022.”
According to statistics, the low-wage sector includes all employment relationships that are paid less than two-thirds of the average gross hourly earnings, as
Deutschlandfunk
also reported
– in April 2022 this was 12.50 euros, a year later it was 13.04 euros.
Low wage sector particularly large in the hospitality industry
The low-wage sector is therefore particularly large in the hospitality industry.
In April 2023, a good one in two employment relationships (51 percent) were affected, as the dpa report states on the occasion of the evaluation.
According to dpa, the proportion of employees who earned less than 13.04 euros gross per hour was also above average in agriculture, forestry and fishing (43 percent) and in art, entertainment and recreation (36 percent).
The low-wage sector is particularly large in the hospitality industry, as the figures show.
(Archive image/symbolic image) © Axel Heimken/dpa
As the dpa report also states, the lowest wage sector was in public administration (4 percent), in the finance and insurance industry (6 percent), in the information and communications industry (7 percent) and in the water sector , waste disposal and environmental pollution cleanup (7 percent).
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Social association warns of poverty in old age
According to the dpa report, the chairwoman of the social association, Michaela Engelmeier, called for the millions of those affected to be offered a perspective above the low wage threshold, “as they would otherwise be at acute risk of poverty in old age”.
In addition, the minimum wage must be increased.
“In view of the persistently high inflation, we are calling for a minimum wage of 15.02 euros,” she said.
Statutory minimum wage 2024
Since January 1, 2024, there has been a statutory minimum wage of 12.41 euros gross per hour.
The minimum wage represents the lower limit for low wages. In the course of the minimum wage increase, the upper limit for mini-jobs was also raised.